A German holidaymaker has won a payout of almost €1,000 after being unable to find a sunlounger for himself and his family because other guests had got there first.

The man, whose identity is not known, holidayed on the island of Kos, in Greece, with his family in 2024. He said that, despite waking up at the crack of dawn every morning to carry out a 20-minute search, he had not been able to lay claim to a lounger.

The man, who had paid more than €7,000 to take his wife and two children on the holiday, was given a partial refund by the hotel after he complained. But Hanover district court ruled last month that the family of four was entitled to the larger sum of €986.70, and held that the tour operator in Germany was responsible.

The court ruling was an unusual intervention in the so-called towel wars – or handtuchkriege – which many consider to be as integral a part of European package holidays as all-you-can-eat buffets and sunburn.

Giving evidence in the case, the man told the court that neither the hotel nor the tour operator did anything to ensure that the resort’s own rules on “towel blocking” were abided by. Despite his requests to staff, guests who did this were not confronted or advised against doing so, he said.

The man said he had risen early every morning – a phenomenon known as the “dawn dash” – (in German sometimes referred to as the morgendlicher liegestuhl sprint) – to try to seize the desired spots. But, he said, he was never successful and his children were forced to lie on the concrete.

The court said that even though holidaymakers had to accept they would not always get a lounger, the onus was on the tour operator, communicating with the hotel, to ensure there was a system in place to allow a “reasonable” relationship between the numbers of sun beds and holidaymakers.

The judge said the ruling was made “based on individual circumstances”.

The legal news website Legal Tribune Online said the fact that the tour operator in Germany had been found liable for the situation in Greece was due to strict laws about package travel. The hotel was legally considered a service provider and therefore seen an agent of the tour operator, it said.

While no law covers the rules around reserving loungers with a towel, a general etiquette exists and is often spelled out on signs by individual resorts or pools. Reservations are considered unacceptable.

Often, hotels say they will remove towels after 30 to 60 minutes of non-use. However, the vagueness frequently leads to poolside conflicts between tourists.

The Hanover judge said it was generally agreed that holidaymakers should not be required to take matters into their own hands by, for example, removing other people’s towels. According to the judge in the case, the tour operator is obliged to prevent such conflicts.